


Bad Moon Rising

by SupernaturalWinchester67



Series: Bad Moon Rising [1]
Category: Supernatural RPF
Genre: Alternate Universe - Actors, Angst, Eventual Relationships, F/M, Mild Blood, Romantic Fluff, Thriller
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-05
Updated: 2018-12-04
Packaged: 2019-09-07 16:04:56
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 9,287
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16857097
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SupernaturalWinchester67/pseuds/SupernaturalWinchester67
Summary: Jensen and the reader are doing some filming out in the Canadian wilderness when they decide to take a short hike during a break. The only problem is they don’t show up for their scene later that day…





	1. Chapter 1

“Alright, that’s lunch,” said the director after you’d finished filming for the morning. You weren’t scheduled for another scene for a few hours and were glad for the break after having to argue with Dean Winchester for the past four.

“Hey, Y/N,” you heard Jensen say when you grabbed your bag to go get some food. “That was really good, don’t you think?”

“Yeah,” you said. “Still not the biggest fan of yelling at you, even if it’s pretend.”

“Remember the beginning of the season? You’ve gotten a lot better at letting it go,” he said, walking with you over to the food trailer. You’d spent all day filming out in the woods, fighting rain showers and that classic Canadian drizzle that never seemed to disappear. “You don’t bring it home with you anymore.”

“True but I’ll still be all blah. Turn on something mindless and pass out on the couch probably,” you said. Jensen shrugged and bumped his shoulder into yours.

“Want to come over after work? Be blah together?” he asked. You smiled and bumped him back. It was always pretty easy hanging out with him after work, especially since you were on the same floor of your complex. Not to mention he had a habit of dropping by most nights to see how you were.

“You got it. I hope they got something warm to eat today. It’s all..ugh out,” you said, feeling the hood on your rain coat be thrown up before you could do it yourself. “Jay.”

“What? We got to stand in line. It might rain,” he said. You threw it down, knowing it was supposed to start clearing up the later half of the day but soon felt a hand ruffling the top your head.

“Jensen! Hair is going to kill you if you keep doing that,” you said, trying to skip away from him, the smile on your face giving away that you really didn’t mind.

“Nah, they don’t stand a chance against you,” he said. “You’d defend me wouldn’t you?”

“Maybe,” you said, spotting the back of the line as you headed over. 

“Maybe? I got to find a new best friend if that’s how it’s gonna be,” he said, resting his elbow on top of your head. You glanced up and he was biting back a laugh. 

“Shut up loser,” you said, reaching under his exposed arm to tickle him. He squirmed away from you but you kept it up until he was laughing and holding up his hands in surrender.

“Oh my God would you two just get together already!” you heard Jared shout from farther up the line. You stopped and knew there was a slight blush on your face, a light one on Jensen’s as well as you contained yourselves. The entire cast and crew teased the two of you about it all the time. You fell into a fast friendship and spent most of your time together over the course of the season. Your character and Dean’s were supposed to finally get together in the season finale when you started filming it in the next few days. They wondered, and a few like Jared hoped, that you’d actually become a real life thing.

“Y/N? You can move up,” said Jensen, putting his hand on the small of your back as you saw the gap in the line, your thoughts distracting you. You grabbed lunch and joined Jensen in his trailer to eat it, neither one of you having to go back for a while. “Hey, since the rain moved through and everything, want to go for a quick hike? We got the time to kill and there’s no reception out here to do anything else.”

“Uh,” you said glancing down at your feet. It wasn’t like your character was a Winchester and was always in a pair of boots. You were pretty much barefoot if it was the bunker, sneakers or heels on occasion, boots the rest. “I should grab my hiking boots.”

“You got sneakers on. We won’t go that far, promise,” said Jensen, itching to go already it seemed like. 

“Alright, let’s go then,” you said, hopping up and heading out of his trailer. 

“Hey, Y/N, Gen said she left her sweatshirt in your trailer. Mind if I pop in and grab it?” asked Jared, catching you as you and Jensen started heading off towards a short trail.

“Go ahead. We’ll be back soon,” you said, waving him off. 

“Going to go make out like a couple of teenagers?” teased Jared, looking between the two of you with a smirk.

“Hiking doofus. We’d invite you but some of us don’t have scenes right now,” said Jensen. Jared couldn’t even retort before someone was calling for him.

“Don’t get lost,” said Jared, walking away and dashing over to your trailer fast. 

Jensen took the lead, walking the two of you away from set until it was quiet and you could really hear the forest. It was nice and you knew where you were actually, remembering they mentioned there was a trail nearby in case someone wandered off. 

“You ever…get annoyed with all of them? The teasing,” he said, putting his hands in his pockets.

“A little. It’s like, we’re really good friends and everyone assumes-”

“That we want to bang or make out or shit like that. It’s gotta be because of the characters and everyone knew that’s why you came on this year,” he said.

“I thought I came on to be some sort of badass, not Dean Winchester’s girlfriend,” you said. “Which I won’t even be until  _next_ season.”

“Sorry that came out kind of bad. I mean, I really like what you’ve done with the character. Fans love her more than Dean,” he said. You couldn’t help but laugh. Sure you knew you had a positive reaction which was an amazing feeling. But you knew perfectly well that Sam and Dean would always be on top.

“Let’s just hope so after the two of them…” you said. “It’s going to be different. Doing kissing scenes, sex scenes, stuff like that next year.”

“It’s sure to be wonderfully awkward all around. We’ll get through it. I mean, you get forehead kisses all the time from me,” he said. You rolled your eyes. Yeah, those were nice and made you feel good but there was a big difference between a friend kiss and actual lips touching. “You’re not…worried or-”

“No, no. Just it’s different than what we’ve done the past year. It’ll be fun to play that,” you said. You were quiet as you walked, knowing you were getting farther away from other people now.

“You going to come visit me on summer break?” he asked after a few minutes. 

“Of course. Now that’s  _really_  going to be weird, not seeing your face everyday,” you said. You’d gone some time without being around him or Jared during the holidays but even then, it was only two weeks before you went down to spend New Years with them.

“I know I’ve only offered like a gajillion times but if you want to come stay with me for the summer, you’re more than welcome. My house is kind of lonely,” he said. He wasn’t as good at the puppy dog thing as Jared but that didn’t mean it wasn’t effective.

“I’m not going to crash at your house for three months dude. What if you bring a girl home?” you said. “I’m not ruining your game.”

“You really want to stay up here  _all by yourself_  while Jared and Gen and me are hanging out and having all kinds of fun?” he said, tilting his head.

“Ah, don’t put it like that,” you said. He smiled, finally landing a chip in your armor. 

“Please? I’ve got a pool. You can go swimming. We can have barbeques and campfires and do all the stuff we do up here with no work in the way.  _You know you want to_ ,” he said, slowing down his pace to throw his arms over your shoulders.

“ _Jensen…_ ” you groaned, his arms squeezing around you tightly and twisting you around.

“Don’t make me beg,” he said, resting his head on top of yours. You sighed and he chuckled. “Is that a yes?”

“If there are any bugs in my room, you’re killing them. You better keep your hands off my ice cream too,” you said, feeling his hug get a little tighter for a second before he released you. He was happy, really happy and you were too in a way. You’d love to spend the summer with your friends but you were always afraid of overstepping your bounds. Jensen was always good at helping you get out of your comfort zone.

“Awesome,” he said. “Maybe you can come down with me this weekend and setup some stuff, figure out what you need.”

“Yeah, we can try to get me on the same flight tonight,” you said. 

“Perfect.”

 

Three Hours Later

“Anyone seen oblivious and more oblivious? They’re late and those two are never late,” said the director. Jared looked up from his phone from where he was waiting for them to set up for the next scene. 

“They said they were going on a short hike. Looked like they were on that trail around here,” said Jared, slightly concerned at the sight of the empty chairs beside him.

“That’s a twenty minute hike max. How long ago was that?” someone asked.

“Three, three and half hours ago maybe,” said Jared. “I’m sure they’re just in their trailers or-”

“We’ve looked fucking everywhere for them. Trailers included. Their bags were in Jensen’s. You’re sure they were on the trail?” the director asked again.

“Yes I’m sure. It’s…maybe they skipped work or had to leave and didn’t tell anyone-”

“Jared. Both of them have been sicker than dogs and showed up to film. There’s no way out of here without one of the driver’s knowing about it. You’re saying we don’t have any clue where two of our actors are?” the director asked. Jared nodded, wishing he had a better answer. “Someone go check that trail. Now.”

A few different people did, going in both directions, meeting back up at set fifteen minutes later.

“Well?” asked Jared, seeing worried looks on their faces.

“We found…we found this,” said one of the PA’s, fishing a piece of navy raincoat out of her pocket. “It was on a branch near the edge of the trail, like it got torn.”

“That’s Y/N’s. She must have gone off the path for some reason,” said Jared, knowing that a certain tall, blonde friend would be the only reason she would go out somewhere she didn’t know. “There was nothing else?”

“Well where we found it, it was near a hill, like a big slope down. Down to the river. You can’t really tell from all the leaves and crap but…” she said, Jared shutting his eyes.

“If one of them fell, the other would have gone after them,” said Jared.

“Somebody call for search and rescue. We’ve got two people who don’t have a clue how to survive in the wilderness that just vanished into a river with class five rapids. They both know how to swim right?” asked the director, someone already pulling out a radio.

“Yeah. You don’t think…” said Jared, unable to say the rest of his thought.

“They’re both strong and smart. Let’s just think on the positive side, alright?”

 

If you ever caught sight of that stupid fucking wolf you were going to murder it. It’d appeared on the trail off to the side, making both you and Jensen jump. Only Jensen jumped a little farther than you, pushing the both of you straight off the trail and down the steep incline, rocks and branches bruising everything they could find. You tried to stop but you were going too fast and you hit the cold water hard, knocking the wind out of you. 

You were vaguely aware of another shift in the water, Jensen pulling you up and above the water. The river was too fast and two violent for the two of you to stay together, the current ripping you apart. You kicked and managed to just barely avoid a boulder, ramming back into him. For what seemed like forever you both did your best to avoid slamming into things, getting caught in powerful pools, anything to just keep your heads above water.

Finally,  _finally_  it slowed, almost all of your energy gone when the river dropped out, a small waterfall appearing and making you hit your back on something hard. When you were throughly frozen, the water calmed for a short stretch, Jensen grabbing you and pulling you with him over to the side with everything he had left, getting the two of you out just before the next batch of awfulness occurred. 

He got the two of you to just inside the tree line where it’d be warmer, shivering and breathing hard. You’d never been more exhausted in your life but you were aware of the hands on you trying to take your shirt off.

“W-What the f-fuck are you d-d-doing?” you asked, a shaking hand resting over his.

“W-We’re going to freeze t-to death if-f-f we don’t warm up. T-Take off your w-wet clothes,” he said. You pushed his hand back, trying to get him to take care of himself first before you. You’d done plenty of scenes with him, even one in a bathing suit but for some reason you felt self-conscious stripping down to your bra and underwear, even if you absolutely had to. When you glanced up his back was to you. “I w-won’t look.”

“T-Thanks,” you said, feeling a little better without the damp items on. He was shivering as he sat there in nothing more than his boxers, his arms wrapping around himself. Screw it, this was serious and you didn’t have time for thinking you weren’t skinny enough today. “T-turn around.”

He spun around so fast, unwrapping his arms as you slid over his lap, pressing yourself up against him, feeling him do the same. That felt better, a sliver of actual warmth penetrating the cold now. 

“N-not how I imagined seeing you in your underwear,” joked Jensen. You laughed until your mind started working. He’d imagined seeing you in your underwear. 

“Me either,” you said, hoping he’d interpret that in a work type of way and not the way you’d sometimes found yourself thinking about him like that and knew you really shouldn’t. He was your best friend. A best friend who happened to look ridiculously hot.

“You’re hurt,” he said, moving his hand away, pulling back a bloody palm. You winced and groaned at the loss of his heat when he moved away. Quickly he came back and you sighed into him. “Looks like a cut on your lower back-k.”

“I’ll s-survive,” you said, moving your arms up and down his own, trying to warm him up. You felt something wet and pulled your hand away. Quickly you sat up and peered over his shoulder. “I think that same rock got you too.”

“Great. Who needs friendship bracelets when you got matching scars?” he joked again. As the heat and warmth returned to your body, you slowly felt the warm trickle down your back stop, your wound finally clotting. But now you were exhausted and wanted to fall asleep more than anything.

“Jensen,” you said, resting your head on his shoulder. “We’re…”

“We’re on the wrong side of the river. I know,” he said, resting his cheek against your head. “God knows where we even are.”

“Supposed to stay near a river when you find one,” you said. “Follow them.”

“Well we certainly can’t go the way we came,” he said, shifting you off his lap so you could turn and see. It was a sheer cliff as far as you could see. That little waterfall hadn’t been so little after all.

“That way sucks too,” you said, pointing farther down the river where it went to a valley and some kind of underwater system. “Can’t go across if we don’t want to drown.”

“We stay right here then,” he said, both of you glancing the only way you could go and the one way you definitely didn’t want to. The complete opposite one. You nodded in agreement, but looked across the river. It was a small spot, a really small spot that could easily be overlooked by someone looking for you.

Jensen sighed and you knew he saw the same exact thing. You’d stay there until you were forced to go.

When it was dark and you were back in damp clothes, sitting silently against a tree, no one saying a word in hours and too nervous to sleep, you heard it. Not the sound of people or a helicopter.

A snarl. Then another one before something cried out and you heard the water being kicked around, way too close for comfort. Jensen was pulling you to your feet and walking the two of you quietly back and away from the river, a roar breaking the night air that made you both freeze. 

Oh great, there was a  _bear_  in addition to whatever was attacking each other out there. You realized how stupid you were to stay there. It was the one easy water source for any animals around, a perfect hunting ground. You stayed close by Jensen’s side until he pulled a little harder, telling you to start jogging. You moved for what seemed like forever, until the sound of critters faded away and you thought you were somewhere safe again. 

Only now you really had  _no clue_  where you were, or even how to get back to the river. When you finally stopped, you made out a tree in the darkness, tucking yourself into the crook of it, dragging him down next to you. You both caught your breath back, still too nervous to actually speak.

If you weren’t lost before, you definitely were now.


	2. Chapter 2

You woke up with your head tucked under the crook of Jensen’s neck, hoping that you’d just had a really bad dream. When you felt the aches in your body though you knew you were still out there, in the middle of nowhere. You opened your eyes and shifted your outstretched legs, brushing up against his.

“Hey,” he said quietly. “You okay?” His arm was around your back, helping you so you slept more on him than against the hard tree.

“Yeah. You?” you asked, not moving away just yet. You liked this, the way he felt around you and how it was different than the other million times you touched or hugged or what not. Yesterday, in a very small way, he’d admitted that he thought about you as something besides just a friend. 

“I’m okay,” he said, moving his hand up to run a thumb over your cheek. “You were shaking for so long last night. We got to try and make a fire and warm you up some.”

“I’m okay,” you said, sitting up so you could look him in the eye. “Really, I am.”

“No you’re not. You always lie about that. It kind of really bothers me that you aren’t honest with me. Do you not trust me?” he asked, your disbelief all over your face. 

“Wha-what?” you asked, feeling like that came out of nowhere. “I trust you more than anyone, with my life if you hadn’t realized. Yeah I’m fucking cold but I can suck it up, Jay.”

“I’m going to try and make a fire,” he said, standing up and walking away. “Stay here so I can find you.”

“Just cause you’re the man doesn’t put you in charge,” you said, trying to get to your feet but feeling too tired to move.

“Okay, first off when have I  _ever_  done anything like that? You’re a strong, badass independent woman and I fucking love that about you. I’m asking you to stay so I know where you are dumbass,” he said, glaring at you before turning away and wandering around in the distance, collecting some dry pieces of wood. He was back a few minutes later, long enough for you to feel bad about what you’d said.

“Sorry,” you said when he knelt down in front of you, picking out two pieces of wood to try with. You ducked your head down when he didn’t respond. His hand cupped your cheek a moment latter, urging you to lift your gaze.

“S’okay. This is a tense situation. Sorry for calling you a dumbass,” he said. You nodded and he shrugged his shoulders back, starting to remove his jacket. “Put on the jacket and we’re even.”

You didn’t argue and let him put it over your shoulders. You smiled, making you feel a lot better on the cold morning. You knew the forecast for the week was only supposed to get unseasonably colder and you hoped you’d be found soon. 

Jensen started rubbing two sticks together, the effort alone keeping him warm. You watched him for a while before he got tired and needed a break. You knelt over to where he worked and picked up the stick, pulling some of the fuzz from his jacket pocket between two pieces of wood. Jensen watched curiously as you moved your hands over the stick, finding a good rhythm before moving them fast so the stick was right up against that fuzz. You worked on it for ten minutes, getting tired and hands acing when finally you heard a whoof of air.

Jensen was on the ground, lightly blowing on it until the fuzz caught the ember, lighting up and you two piled some sticks on, eventually getting to point where you could put some thicker ones on so the fire would last. It was hot and felt like the best thing in your life. You handed Jensen his jacket back as you both huddled around it.

“How’d you know to do that?” he asked after a while, shifting so he was sat up next to you.

“I don’t know really. I think I saw something once on one of those survival shows about fire needing air. I’ll take dumb luck if it keeps us alive,” you said. He hummed and you felt him rest his head on your shoulder. He lifted it after a second until you put it back down. “Go ahead and rest. You’re tired.”

You knew he liked to do that. You’d spent a lot of plane trips with Jensen resting his head there, a lot of late nights in trailers doing it, staying up and watching scary movies in your apartments with it there. You ran a hand up and down his arm and around his back, occasionally running it through his hair. You knew how shitty you felt and he’d been the one you slept on all night, worked on a fire for an hour…he had to be ready to pass out.

But he didn’t, still tense and ready to go if he had to. He was in one of Dean’s jackets and flannels, the whole nine yards. This was probably the closest he’d ever been to actually being like Dean, ready to bolt or fight at a moment’s notice, never letting himself relax all the way.

“Jensen, what did you mean earlier about me lying to you,” you asked as gently as possible. “If I’m doing something that makes you think I’m not being truthful, I want you to talk to me about that stuff.”

“Stop holding me at arms length then,” he said, pushing himself away from you. He looked upset again. “You hold all of us at arm’s length and I’m tired of having to reassure you all the time. It’s annoying.”

You’re natural response would have been to throw up your walls, get mad, shrug him off. But it hurt and you just hoped you didn’t cry. 

“I apologize,” you said, forcing the words out slowly to try and give yourself some time to come together.

“Don’t apologize. I don’t  _want_  you to apologize. I…I want to reassure you and be there for you but you’ve got to let me in all the way and you don’t do that. It’s always ‘I’m fine, I’m okay, I don’t want to spend time with my friends because I think I bother them.’ I’d just really like it if you were honest with me,” he said. 

“Jensen-”

“I mean, why do you think I stop by everyday? I want to see how you are with my own eyes because if I were to call you’d just say fine,” he said.

“Jensen-”

“Is it something I said or did that makes you uncomfortable? Or feel like you can’t tell me certain things? If I did I’m sorry. I want us to be honest with-”

“Jensen would you just shut up for two seconds and let me talk?” you said. His mouth snapped shut and you sighed. “You are really amazing and wonderful and the best friend I’ve ever had. When it comes down to it, I’m…I’m kind of scared alright?”

“I scare you?” he asked, looking mortified. “Whatever I’m doing to make you feel that way-”

“It’s not you. It’s…you know I didn’t have the best upbringing. Family isn’t really my…well I don’t really have one and everything,” you said. He nodded, both of you remembering that conversation from when you went down to his place for New Year’s. He hadn’t exactly been thrilled at the fact that you lied about spending the holidays with your family when you really just ordered takeout and watched movies on TV by yourself.

“Yes, I remember that,” he said.

“Well, I had a boyfriend once. I liked him, he liked me, we started dating. I thought he was a good guy, a nice guy. Until one day he wasn’t and he wasn’t the next either and I realized I’d found my way in with a piece of crap that…the point is, I clung to him at first because he was the first person to show me real genuine affection, like ever. It was a screwed up version of it from him but it was there in a way. I got rid of him and never wanted that to happen again,” you said.

“You keep yourself safe by keeping everyone away a bit,” he said. You nodded and watched him run a hand over his face. “I understand. It’s fucking stupid in my opinion but I understand.”

“Do you have  _any_  idea what it’s like to live with someone who…who flips their shit on you when you have dinner done at 6:01 and not a minute sooner? Someone who treats you-”

“I’m fucking proud of you leaving an ass like that. Assuming the rest of the world is going to be that way towards you is what’s stupid. Take a look at me. Do you really think I could ever think of hurting you? I mean for fuck’s sake Y/N, I’m head over heels for you,” he said.

“Who’s the one keeping secrets now,” you said, not ready to handle that, not even able to process if it was real or some desperate lie because of the circumstances. You spun around on your bottom and turned away from him. You heard him do the same, tending to the fire for a good long while as you sat there.

“You don’t believe me,” he said, breaking the silence.

“Distance works,” you said, sighing deeply, leaning your head back and finding his back was right up behind you, only a few inches away.

“No it doesn’t. You’re living half a life,” he said. “You deserve better.”

“Sorry but a lifetime of crap doesn’t exactly lead me to believe that. We didn’t all grow up with loving families, ” you said.

“You like me. I know it for a fact. Gen was tipsy one night and let me in on it by accident. The little you’ve told me, you’re right. You didn’t grow up getting everything you should have or the care you should have. You stopped being a kid way sooner than most of us. But you want a family and you’re the only one keeping it away. You’ve got people who love you. We’re right here. We won’t hurt you,” he said. “I won’t.”

“You can’t promise that,” you said, leaning back against him fully, your resolve starting to break. Why’d it’d always have to break for him? How did he manage to do it every single time…

“I’m not moving from this spot until you hear  _exactly_  what I’m going to promise you. I’m not moving until you believe it either,” he said, leaning his head back against your own. 

“It’s not going to happen,” you said, moving your hand to scratch at your cut from the day before. Only you felt his own catch it behind his back, wrap his fingers between yours. 

“We’ll stay here as long as it takes then.”


	3. Chapter 3

He’d finished talking a few minutes ago. You hadn’t said much, simply interjected a few times along the way to clarify some things. He was patient when you did that, when you tried to rebuttal away whatever words he was saying. You really were an idiot. But you weren’t supposed to call yourself that anymore. He was going to help you be nicer to yourself along with making those fears of needing to stay on the fringes disappear.

“Do we pinky promise or what?” you finally asked, turning your body around. You felt him move behind you, his face soft, barely any worry there. “I want you to believe me too.”

The hand he had kept around yours the entire time, however long that was, gave your own a gentle squeeze. 

“Now that everyone is understanding of this whole thing…” he said with a soft smile. “There is that  _other_  elephant in the room.”

“Elephant in the forest, you mean,” you said, smiling when he rolled his eyes. “Couldn’t help myself.”

“The elephant in the forest you little…let’s get out of here first and  _then_  we can figure out the if you want to try the dating thing,” he said. You shook your head and saw his face fall. “You don’t want to try dating?”

“I don’t want to wait to start doing it. No more pushing things down and not telling anyone, right?” you asked him. “Well, you know because of a certain loose lips Padalecki that I had some shoved down about you. You’ve been trying to coax it out of me the past week. You’re obliviously ready for it. What difference does it make?”

“I’m concerned it’s too much at once for you I guess,” he said. You laughed and raised an eyebrow. 

“Seriously? I feel good, Jay. Forget the bumps and bruises and thirsty, hungry, lost as shit stuff. This cloud that’s always been hanging over my head is gone. I’m going to have to get the hang of this in terms of everyone else but as far as you go, it’s gone. Don’t make me wait any longer,” you said. 

“Alright. You let me know though if things are too fast or you want to slow it down or whatever, promise?” he asked. You gave his hand a squeeze of your own and nodded. “I need to get more firewood.”

“Thanks for taking care of me,” you said, getting a ruffle on the top of your head as he stood.

“We’d still be freezing our asses off it weren’t for you. Partners right?” he asked. 

“Partners.”

 

You were both hungry, grumbling stomachs filling the air. You hadn’t eaten in over a day at this point. The food thing you could handle. People could go awhile without food. 

Water though, you  _really_  needed that. Neither one of you had tasted a sip of it since the night before. You knew you had more time before it became a really big problem but every swallow was a constant reminder that you were dehydrated and every moment you didn’t have it only made things worse.

“Can you climb a tree?” Jensen asked beside you. You looked him over as he stared at a tall pine not too far off. “You’re lighter than me. Less chance of branches breaking.”

“If you gave me a boost I could probably do it,” you said. How much different could it be than monkey bars on the playground? “What are you thinking?”

“I’m thinking we need something to drink and soon. We got to find the river again,” he said. Oh. You were going to have to climb up high if you wanted a chance at looking over the tree line. Your concern must have been written all over your face because he was quickly shaking his head. “It’s too dangerous, forget about it.”

“I’ll do it,” you said, standing up. “If I fall, try to catch me?”

“Please don’t fall,” he said, getting to his feet reluctantly. You walked over to the base of the tree, Jensen shaking his head again. “I’ll do it. It’s-”

“You said it yourself. I’m lighter and smaller. I can get around better once I get to the top where it thins out,” you said. He was hesitant to help you up to where there were branches to get a hold of and you sighed. “I’m a badass remember?”

“Please don’t hurt yourself. Come down if you get scared or it’s too high,” he said.

“You got it boss. Come on,” you said. He stood with his back up against the tree, cupping his hands together in front of him. You had to do a scene once where your character had to climb up and over something with Dean’s help. Only you weren’t actually digging into Jensen’s shoulders with your feet when you had to do that. 

You did your best not to hurt him as you got your second foot up on his shoulder, resting your hands against the bark of the tree. He didn’t speak as he put his hands under your heels and pushed upwards, giving you more height as he let out a huff.

“Shit you’re strong,” you said, reaching out for a branch when it came into grabbing distance. You could only get one hand on it though before you had to try and pull yourself up, Jensen moving away as you saw the ground already more than ten feet below.

You flew your other hand up and pulled, trying to get your body up and over. Your hands were sticky fast and pine needles scratched everything but somehow you pushed off the tree with your foot and swung a leg up and over. You twisted your body until it was on top of the branch, your back leaning up against the solid tree as you shook out your arms.

“I think you’re the strong one,” he said with a smile below. You got your breath back and looked up, trying to find the best path upwards. The branch you were on was sturdy and strong, one that could easily hold both you and Jensen together. Farther up you knew it’d get more treacherous. “If you can get your way over here I think you can zig zag up.”

You scooted over a few branches on your bottom until you were over him.

“Yeah,” you said looking up. “This looks better.”

“Be careful,” he said as you started to move. You never actually climbed a tree as a kid but you played on swing sets and most of it transferred over. Jensen kept telling you to take breaks so you didn’t tire yourself out. You listened for the most part until he told you to stop all together. “See anything yet?”

“A bunch of leaves,” you shouted back, moving to go higher.

“You’re already too high. Come back, we’ll figure out something else,” he said. 

“There’s more branches, I’m going to keep going,” you said, pushing on as you heard him shout below. “Relax, I’m not going to do anything stupid.”

Actually, this was pretty stupid. You no longer felt safe and secure branches under you. Now it was constant shakes and creaks that made your heart race.

Finally when you were up so high you thought the top part of the tree would snap off, you could see over the tops of the ones below. At first all you saw was more trees which terrified you. You spun around carefully, checking out the other side when you saw a small break in them. 

“That way!” you shouted down.

“Very helpful Columbus. Could you be more specific?” he yelled back. 

“How’s this for specific?” you said, reaching into your pocket and pulling out a rock you’d shoved in there for this exact purpose and tossing it in the direction of the river. “Watch your head!”

“That way?” you heard him yell back a moment later. 

“No, the other way Sherlock. Yes that way!” you yelled back, hearing a laugh reach it’s way up to you.

“Okay but get your butt back down here now. That tree is shaking way too much,” he said. You were already going down, trying to use the same foot and handholds as on the way up. Until you stepped on one and it snapped, sending you barreling down. 

You tried to catch something on the way down, the hits only slowing your fall so much. Then there were no more branches to separate you from a twenty foot drop straight down to hard ground below. You tucked up into a ball, just in time to hit something soft with a lot of force.

You felt the groan escape him as you rolled off and onto the ground. Jensen was on his back, grimacing as you had a similar expression on your own face.

“You alright?” you asked him, knowing all that weight hitting him that fast had to hurt.

“You’re never climbing a tree ever again,” he said, forcing himself to sit upright. “I’m alright. You?”

“Yeah. Next time, you climb the tree,” you said, trying to wipe away the sap and needles stuck to you and in you on your jeans. You winced when they wouldn’t fall away. Jensen slid over to help pluck them off as you saw he only had one shoe on. “Thanks for catching me.”

“I marked which way to go,” he said, holding up your palm, noticing the little cuts in them. “You can’t stand splinters.”

“You remember that?” you asked.

“You got one on one of the early episodes. Bitched about it the whole damn time until you finally got the medic to pull it out for you. I got you a box of kitty band aids for the next time it happened,” he said, making you smile.

“I still have those,” you said, spotting the dark spots in your skin you wouldn’t be able to get out, not without something better than a pair of fingers. “It was worth it.”

“No more risky stuff, agreed?” he asked. You shrugged, hoping there wouldn’t have to be one. Once your hands were cleaned up as good as they were going to get, you walked around until you found his shoe. “What about the fire?”

“We’ll make another one if it comes to it,” you said.

You took off in the direction you thought was the river. But as you went longer and longer without spotting it, you wondered if you’d been horribly wrong somehow.

“It-it should be this way,” you said. You were panicking some, hoping using up valuable energy like that hadn’t been for nothing.

“Hey, calm down. I’m sure we’ll find it,” he said, putting a hand around your shoulders. You let him relax you as you walked. “Better now?”

“I know I saw a break in the trees,” you said. 

“I believe you. We ran pretty far last night. It’ll take longer on foot,” he said. You nodded and kept going, watching the sky darken. He didn’t have a hood and you really hoped it wouldn’t pour down on him. “Trees are thinning out up there. Maybe that’s it.”

You both picked up your pace some as you got closer. Until his arm around your shoulders jutted out in front of you, stopping you in place.

“Sh,” he said.

“Wha-” you got out before he threw his hand over your mouth. You tilted your head up to throw him a look but paused when you heard a pack of snarls again. He shook his head, the both of you backing out of there slowly and trying to walk farther down where the river should have been. Eventually the noises stopped and he pulled his hand away, keeping you close though.

You didn’t speak, only slightly nudging one another in the direction you wanted to go, over branches and then back towards the river. You saw the trees thin again as you approached, spotting fast moving rapids beyond it. Fresh water was right there but there was a big danger in leaning down to try and drink from it.

“One at a time,” he said, holding your hand tight. “If you slip I’ll get you.”

You leaned down, trying not to drown yourself as you pressed your lips to the cold water. Oh God that was amazing. You drank your fill before sitting back, letting him have a go.

He was on his way back up when you saw his boot slip in the mud along the river’s edge, sending his weight forward. You yanked back hard and dug your hand into the waist band of his jeans, pulling him so he fell back on you instead of forward.

“Heavy,” you breathed out, feeling a little crushed under his weight. He rolled off and pulled you back a few feet, giving you both some necessary space from the water.

“Thanks,” he said, a shake to his voice. 

“What are friends for,” you said, twisting your arm around his, lacing your hands together. You sat for a while, knowing now you had a slightly safer source of water. There was still the issue of being on the wrong side of the river to deal with.

“You still want to come down to Austin this weekend?” he asked. 

“Maybe we better make it next. Flights are probably all booked up ya know,” you said, offering a smile.

“Yeah, I don’t think I’ll be making my 11 flight tonight,” he said. “We can hang out up here. Nice little relaxing weekend together.”

“Maybe go camping,” you joked.

“Build a fire,” he said, half-laughing along the way.

“Really rough it, ya know?” you said, looking down at yourselves. You weren’t sure there was a spot on you that wasn’t absolutely filthy.

“Austin next weekend for sure,” he said. You hummed and giggled to yourself. “What are you thinking giggly girl?”

“Were you trying to pull a Dean Winchester with inviting me to stay for the summer?” you asked. “You know, asking the girl you like to stay with you in the hope that you’ll get together?”

“I had no alternate motive when I asked you that. I asked you that before I found out you realize,” he said. 

“And after you found out? You know,  _yesterday_  when you asked again?” you asked, catching him bite his bottom lip.

“Shut up,” he said, bumping his arm into yours.

“I’m sure it would have worked. You can be very convincing when you want to be,” you said. 

“Hey, I got you, not exactly the way I planned to get us there but I think I made out okay,” he said. You bumped him back, earning a tickle on your ribs for just a second as he realized you were too close to the water for that.

“Are you thinking what I’m thinking?” he asked. 

“That I’m starving and want to curl up in a blanket on something soft with you?” you asked.

“Yes that but…there might be a way across,” he said, holding out his free hand. “See that?”

“Hi, can I introduce you to Jensen from two hours ago who said we aren’t doing risky shit anymore?” you said, raising an eyebrow.

“The water is fast enough where the animals aren’t going to bother you. You can get it on your own if you’re careful. You can make a fire. You can stay on your own and I’ll go-”

“No way in Hell am I letting you go do that,” you said. “I’m not going to sit here and watch you drown.”

“If I can get across, I’ll find the service road we took in. It ran parallel to the river. I can find it and get you help,” he said. “Trust me, leaving you here alone is the last thing I want but-”

“We’ll both go. We’re sticking together,” you said. He  _really_  didn’t like that. You already could tell how bad he felt about the tree thing and the idea of leaving you by yourself wasn’t exactly his first choice. He wanted you to be safe which you completely understood. You fully expected to have to argue this.

“Fine,” he said, watching the shock spread across your face. “I don’t have a right to try and protect you and not expect you to try and do it back. Plus I’d never hear the end of it.” 

“Smart boy,” you said. “I’m glad you’re not some overprotective boyfriend and are still my best friend.”

“I never stopped being that. Only difference is now I can show you how much I have the hots for you once I find my way to some mouth wash,” he said, pulling you to your feet.

“I so  _knew_  that comment about me in my underwear didn’t come out of nowhere,” you said, following him over to the spot you both didn’t want to have to go.

“Bet you look even better out of them,” he said with a wink. 

“Behave. We’re about to probably die,” you said. 

“Better do this then,” he said. You were already leaning up, feeling him press a quick kiss to your lips. “Now I can die happy.”

“You die I’m going to murder you,” you said, eyes scanning the boulders jutting out in the river before you.

“I’ll do my best not to then,” he said, the teasing falling away. “I’ll go first.”

He let go of your hand and took a step up onto a rock and then another, slowly making his way off the river edge and starting to cross it. He stepped up to a big one, crouching on top it.

“It’s going to be slippery so be careful,” he said. You nodded and started going up yourself, the rocks here not so scary seeming as the ones in the middle you were dreading. “Okay?”

“Yeah, keep going,” you said once you got right up behind him. He took a big breath just in case and had to make a small jump, landing on a boulder on it’s own. There was another one he had to jump for again, this one smaller. He waved you to keep following and you took a breath yourself, jumping and hitting the rock on it’s own hard. This one was a lot wetter and you were surrounded by water now.

Jensen made another jump, making room for you to get up to the next one. It went slow and hard, slamming into them as you made your way about two thirds across. He took another leap and watched as his boot slipped and he fell back into the water. 

You hopped forward to the rock he’d just been on and leaned down, grabbing his arm and hanging on tight. He managed to pull himself up with your help, both barely fitting on the rock as you stood up.

“Anyone ever tell you how good at saving my ass you are?” he said, catching his breath back, harder now that he was wet and cold.

“Make me some of that Ackles family sweet potato pie and we’re even,” you said. 

“Alright, I’m making some pies on Sunday then,” he said, turning his body around. He jumped again, making it this time. There was only one more close call before he was safely on land again. “One more Y/N.”

This was the hard one and you both knew it. It was far for him and worse for you. There was no room to get a running start so you went for it, managing to get on and slide right off. You felt your head go under and be ripped back up by something rough grabbing your jacket collar. You shot your hands up and wrapped them around an arm that pulled you out of the water and onto the bank.

“How about you help with the pies?” he asked as you coughed into his chest. 

“S’good,” you got out, the chill of the water as freezing as ever. 

“I gotcha ya. Let’s warm up,” he said, getting you to your feet. You started to jog up the small hill, this one not as steep as the one you fell down, Jensen right on your tail. When you got to the top you were still wet but you felt a tiny bit warmer.

“Road,” you said, standing in one of two dirt trails. That got both your interest back as you headed right, jogging down the trail for a half mile or so before your aching body told you to stop. You walked in silence, trying your best to wring the water from your clothes, trying not to get too excited. You were glad for that when you realized the sun was going down, that you’d be spending another night out here.

“Hey, little Miss Bear Grylls, want to try and make us a fire?” asked Jensen. You slowed your pace, hoping you’d be able to make it happen twice.

“Only if-” you started, about to make some crack about him finding a worm for dinner. But there was a lot of commotion, someone speaking from a loudspeaker.

You both looked at each other before jogging down the road again. The road went up to a hill before dropping out below. When you got to the top you saw…well you saw what looked like a shit ton of people.

“Pick it back up at eight in the morning alright everyone?” whoever was speaking said.

“Don’t think you’ll need to!” shouted Jensen, unable to help himself as every head snapped in your direction. The two of you jogged down the rest of the road, slowing when you finally got there, everyone looking like they’d just seen a ghost.

“Anyone have any water? Or food?” you asked, instantly causing everyone to snap out of their haze and start helping you over to the back of a car. 

“Ahh,” you both said, the heat from the vents making you smile. A bottle of water was placed in your hand, something warm tossed over you, an uneaten sandwich being handed over by another.

“This is great but-” said Jensen.

“Get your seat belts on. We’re taking you two to the hospital,” said Jared as he slid into the front seat of the car.

“Jare Bear, have we got a surprise for you.”

 

The next morning they’d released you and thankfully gotten all your splinters out. You were told to rest and there was nothing more that you wanted than to pass out in bed all day, which you did.

Only it wasn’t your bed you passed out in. It was easier to keep an eye on both of you if you were in the same apartment and Jensen had a bigger bed so that’s how you ended up asleep in it for the rest of the day, waking up only to have one of your friends watching you make sure you ate and drank.

By Sunday morning though you were feeling better and your caretakers were wondering exactly what happened out there that got you together.

“Gen, you broke the first rule of girls nights,” you said, nodding to Jensen as she slid a plate of pancakes in front of you after checking up on the kids having nap time.

“I would never! I will take those things with me to the grave,” she said. Jared rolled his eyes as Jensen bit down a laugh.

“Maybe you wouldn’t but tipsy Gen told him things I wasn’t ready to tell him,” you said.

“We got to figure out what the hell happens during girls night is what I’m learning,” said Jared. You shook your head. “Hey, you guys are finally together so I guess I can’t be any happier than that.”

“Y/N can make a fire,” said Jensen, a proud smile on his face. “She’s more amazing than we realized.”

“It wasn’t a big deal,” you said, shifting your foot under the table to play with his beside you.

“I’m pretty much alive because of her,” said Jensen. You cocked your head and were about to protest when he leaned forward and kissed you. 

“He did stuff too,” you said, a little breathless, a little hazy when he pulled away.

“We can tell,” said Gen and Jared in unison, setting the last of the plates down for themselves.

“I don’t understand,” you said, looking at Jensen. He smiled, seeing something you didn’t.

“You’re different. Good different. The old you would have ripped our heads off at trying to help you,” said Jared. “I think maybe you realize…”

“You dorks love me and I love you. Are we done with the sappy stuff now?” you asked.

“You still do smell a bit like a pine tree,” said Jensen, giving you a grin.

“Aw, she loves us,” said Jared. 

“You guys can’t be this sappy or I won’t survive Austin for three months,” you said. You saw the surprised smiles on their faces and rolled your eyes. “Just give me a hug so I can eat my pancakes.”

“I call first dibs,” said Jensen, pulling you in tight, soon follower by two more paris of arms.

“Crushing me,” you squeaked out. They retreated back but you didn’t feel any less happy. “So, you said they re-wrote the scene we missed on the spot?”

“Yeah, we’re still on schedule somehow. You two have a kissing scene on Wednesday if I’m not mistaken,” said Jared.

“Only a few days to get in a whole lot of practice,” said Jensen, giving you a wink.

“It’s Sunday. You promised me a pie mister,” you said.

“Maybe one of our babysitters will go pick up the ingredients for us?” asked Jensen.

“He wants to make her a pie,” said Gen, before turning and smacking Jared on the arm. “Why don’t you offer to make pie?”

“I made you breakfast in bed last week! Go get lost in the woods and I’ll make you a pie too,” said Jared, relaxing when he saw her cracking up that he believed that. “You little…you owe  _me_  a pie now.”

“Why don’t we make it pie day?” you asked. “We can run down the hall and use my oven too.”

“Huh. Good thing Dean Winchester isn’t real or he’d steal her right out from under you bud,” said Jared.

“No, no. He wouldn’t stand a chance against me, not when it comes to Y/N,” said Jensen.

“None at all.”


End file.
